Name of ride : Thumper (name stuck from the days of SPL competition when she had 4 Rockford 15s in the bed)
Name of owner: Nate Reed
Make and Model: 1987 Mazda B2000
Mods: Shaved all handles, walk through cab, custom paint (00 honda civic si blue, 97 civic silver and custom orange flames), Toyota front bumper, chrome mazda grille, clear lights all around, period correct gts 4wd vent visors, custom velvet swirl interior, 2 skar 10s powered by a rockford 240x amp, Phoenix gold eq., alpine v10 powering the Kenwood coaxials in the custom door pods, Engine is a stock rebuilt 2.0l with stainless long tube header, Custom blue led underbody kit along with a period correct blue neon license plate surround.
Rims : 15×10 reverse offset Daytons with 195/50/15 rubber
Interior : Walk through cab, custom velvet interior over stock bucket seats with headrests removed. Flamed door panels and custom sub box.
Suspension: 2 pump hydraulic setup with 10 switches and 6 batteries, 10 inch strokes in the rear and 8 inch in the front, riding on mini coils all around
Car club: Banzai Cruisers Pennsylvania Chapter
Rides story: Where to begin? I originally bought this truck as a Junior in high school in 1996 when my dad wouldn’t let me lower the mazda he handed down to me because it still needed to be used as a “truck”. This truck ran around my local cruise spot static dropped with the walk through, rolling on 15×8 ultra hammers and 4 rockford fosgate 15s in a huge box in the bed. Needless to say once I saw it for sale I handed my first mazda back to my dad and bought this one (with a loan from him of course). I drove her daily to school and work quickly finding out the previous owner beat her up alot. The rear end was found packed with saw dust in the fluid to mask the whining it made only days later and the engine smoked worse than today’s diesel crowd. so after some mechanical repairs I would take the truck to SPL events all over the northeast. That was fun but I quickly grew out of it and wanted to do something different. My buddy Matt Foreman built a mazda locally on juice and I was instantly hooked. I bought a hydraulics kit and had him install it. During that time the truck went through many colors of paint and primer. The last stage being a lavender primer. Well in 2001 when my now wife (Emily Reed) first saw it she thought it was cool but the primer was ugly so that had to go. I took the truck to a now closed down local shop and had them spray it in the colors it is today. Soon after I had Weavers Upholstery in Williamsport, Pa do the interior. Kids came into the picture and the truck got stashed away for many years, only coming out to local shows basically.. The truck has remained quite unchanged from 01 till now. Little repairs on the paint is about all.
Special Thanks: I need to thank my wife Emily first for always seeing how important this hobby is to me. My father Dan for loaning me the money to buy this truck in the first place and allowing me to take up so much room in his garage while he tried to run a business. My club Banzai Cruisers for pushing me even when I felt like quitting at times.
Future Plans: Just enjoy and maintain her. Also find a cemetery that allows you to be buried in your vehicle, she will most likely be my future casket.
Feature Shot By ECS Mark Mckeehan
